|
Locating
a Telecommuting Opportunity ... As easy as shooting a watermelon
out your nose!
by
Edward B. Toupin
I can
say that getting a solid telecommuting opportunity is not
an easy task. They're out there, but locating them can be
extremely difficult and time-consuming. Even with all the
e-books, reports, and telecommuting packages you've probably
purchased, it just doesn't happen overnight.
--- What
can I do? ---
The
best way to break into a telecommuting situation is to locate
an office job that can be performed anywhere. This will
help you develop a reputation as a self-motivated, reliable,
professional worker. Information-based jobs with a minimum
amount of required face-time are good prospects.
Also,
look for jobs that are physically portable---that is, whatever
the telecommuter needs to do the job can be accessed over
a phone line.
A few
of the job categories best suited for telecommuting include:
Advertising
& Marketing, Architectural and Computer Aided Design,
Artists and Writers,
Billing and Collections, Credit and Collections, Customer
Service, Clerical
and Secretarial, Data
Entry and Transcription, Engineering, Photography,
Programmers and Database Administrators, Sales, Telemarketers,
Translators, and Web Designers and Developers.
--- How
do I smell? ---
Whether
you 're face-to-face or over the Internet, your cover letter
and resume are essential. In fact, they're your only tools
when locating and applying for jobs on the Internet!
The cover
letter can make or break the possibility of getting a job.
It gives the employer an idea of what you can do for them
and what you're looking for in an opportunity. Remember, what
you want and what they offer have to match or you 're out.
Your objective is to find a job you want to do, not something
you feel that you have to do.
Once they
get past the cover letter, they will usually read the resume.
Employers want to hire people who can do the job. Make sure
that your resume is complete and reflects your abilities to
handle the position. To enhance the presentation, tailor the
resume to the opportunity to show an employer what you know
and what you can do. After all, you 're going to get a job---it's
just a question of which one.
--- Locating
Opportunities ---
Locating
a job is easy. Just go to one of the thousands of sites that
are out on the Web and start looking. It should only take
you about three or four years to search them all. I 'm sure
you have that much time!
The best
way I've found to search for a job is to follow these steps:
- Make a task list that outlines your daily job-search activities.
- Find
several well-known job sites and post your resume. Search
the lists of jobs and prepare the site's job agents to help
you locate various jobs.
- Keep
track of all employers you contact, the date of your contacts,
people you talk/e-mail with, and special notes about the
contacts.
- Apply
to multiple companies on a given job site to save time.
- Always
have a resume and cover letter ready to upload whenever
a lead comes your way.
- Follow-up
leads immediately. If you find out about a job late in the
day, contact them right away.
- Tell
everyone you know that you are looking for job. Stay in
touch with friends and contacts. Follow-up new leads immediately.
- Search
Sites.
Keep in
mind that many job sites replicate data from other sites.
Some sites even post the contents of the USENET job groups
on their sites as potential job opportunities. This leads
to the point that out of 1,000 jobs that you search on the
Web, more than half are duplicates copied from one or more
other sites. The easiest way to search for a telecommuting
opportunity is to stick
to a few of the primary search resources. The primary sites
that I've found beneficial are shown in the following list:
ework
--- http://www.ework.com/
eLance --- http://www.elance.com/
FreetimeJobs --- http://www.freetimejobs.com
Workaholics4Hire --- http://www.workaholics4hire.com
Guru.com --- http://www.guru.com
IC Planet --- http://www.icplanet.com
Jobvertise --- http://www.jobvertise.com
Headhunter --- http://www.headhunter.net
Monster --- http://www.monster.com
Net-Temps --- http://www.net-temps.com
Brassring --- http://www.brassring.com
Some of
the more relevant keywords I've successfully used in my searches
include: freelance, telecommute, telecommuting, telecommuter,
work at home, work from home, telework, off-site, offsite.
The keyword includes any keyword that would apply to your
field or any field of your
choice.
* Other
Resources
An additional
resource is the USENET newsgroups. USENET provides 60,000
or more
newsgroups that contain thousands of postings. Several groups
contain important
job postings that can potentially lead to a telecommuting
contract opportunity.
One of the primary sites that provides a searchable front-end
to
USENET is Google (http://www.google.com).
Other
useful tools for Web and newsgroup searches are the WebFerret
and NewsFerret by FerretSoft (http://www.ferretsoft.com).
Another great tool is Copernic by Copernic Technologies (http://www.copernic.com/).
These applications provide user-friendly front-ends and search
several servers simultaneously from your local machine. I
use these tools all the time for job searches as well as research
for my writing.
--- Make
Yourself Known ---
Many employers
search for potential employees on the various job boards around
the Web. It's essential that you have an up-to-date resume
posted at these
sites so you can be found. Some of the sites for successfullyacquiring
jobs through resume postings include:
ework
--- http://www.ework.com/
Dice
--- http://www.dice.com
Guru.com --- http://www.guru.com
Headhunter
--- http://www.headhunter.net
Net-Temps
--- http://www.net-temps.com
Monster
--- http://www.monster.com
It's also
a good idea to create a Web site that shows your portfolio
of work. Provide a couple of resumes targeting your desired
jobs, a few samples of your work, and an explanation of the
type of job that interests you. Promote the site and place
the URL in your e-mail signature so that prospective
employers can locate the site and get a glimpse of your abilities.
--- The
Interview ---
One thing
I always do before an interview is to learn as much as possible
about the company from their Web site. I learn about what
they do and find out about their key players. If the company
doesn't have a Web site, they're probably not going to support
telecommuting.
Another
way to find out information is to do a Web search on various
keywords
associated with the company. For instance, searching for their
name,
their product, or their industry topics will usually provide
quite a bit
of background.
Once you
learn about them, prepare a small statement that summarizes
the company.
Also, prepare some questions related to your target job. When
you
're asked if you have questions, state your summary to the
interviewer and
flow into your first question. This let the interviewer know
that you took
the time to do research. Make sure that you ask for examples
of what you'll
be doing as well as information on benefits for telecommuters.
--- Landing
a Job ---
Many potential
employers will tell you that you'll have to spend time in
their
office. For the most part, that 's not entirely the case.
Realize that many
companies are still in the mode of having people in-house.
You don
't have to accept every job that comes your way. For one,
if you take on
too many things, you'll never be able to finish anything to
the proper level
of care required. Keep moving forward in your direction and
your search.
Just remember, you 're looking for a telecommuting opportunity!
Edward
B. Toupin is a freelance consultant, writer, and published
author living in Las Vegas with his singer/actress wife. He
currently handles technical writing tasks for various companies
in New York, Chicago, and Denver as well as imagineers and
markets feature-length screenplays.
Resources
- Freelance Work Exchange. Helps
freelance and work-at-home professionals find work and make
money online. Click
here.
- Freelance Contracts In 48 Hours.Discover
the Secrets Of How You Can Obtain Freelance Contracts in
48 Hours. Click
here.
- Freelance Success. How to build
your profitable freelance business. Click
here.
- Easy-to-use blueprints for
70 high demand, low competition niche businesses you can
start on the Internet, today! Click
here.
Find freelance
work or a home based business that's right for you. Analyze
your skill, experience, and interests. For example, if you have
typing skills, consider starting a home
based secretarial business.
If you are interested in starting a legitimate home based
business, explore our other legitimate
home based businesses.
|
